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Almost perfect January cruise

January 18-26, 2014 Cruise review: A little less spectacular than previously, but still a great cruise nonetheless!

Getting to the terminal is quite the adventure, with all of the road construction; but the shuttle from Towneplace Suites got us there very efficiently. We are Platinum members, so we were on the ship within 20 minutes. We ate lunch in the Windjammer & then got to our stateroom. Balcony on the 8th floor, port side. Very comfy room & our attendant was Hallana, she was great!

Dinners:

We ate in the Dining room deck 3 every night. Our table-mates were great! The main waiter did a good job, but his assistant was just pathetic. She would serve 1 person & then just walk away before anyone else could request anything. Every night, she would give each of us our bread choice that we had eaten the night before! She hardly ever let us choose our bread. She also gave us our same beverages from the previous night; if we ordered tea last More
night, we got tea tonight, etc! My seat was in view of the wait station & she would just stand there looking around. All of the other staff was busy either serving or cleaning. Not our assistant! We were afraid to sit in any other chairs around our table, for fear of confusing her!

Overall, the food was great! Try the meatballs for your appetizer; they’re yummy! Turkey dinner was great! Steaks were OK, tended to be too salty.

Entertainment:

We saw every show. We’d seen the Temptations before, so it was less exciting this time. The ice show was fantastic again! The violinist was superb! Don’t miss that show! The comedian was OK, not as good as some in the past. The RC Singers & Dancers were good; the main female singer definitely needed dancing lessons! I have better rhythm than she did! The Quest seemed way too tamed down & we are fairly moderate people! Bring back a little life to that show! Enjoyed the Love & Marriage Game Show; the way they picked the mid-range contestants was much better this time!

Cruise Director:

Joff Eaton was mediocre. He tried too hard to be funny & it wasn’t working. We hardly ever saw him around the ship.

Ports:

Always love St Maarten & Labadee! We would love to spend 2 days at Labadee, it’s just soooo relaxing & tranquil! St Kitts was not good! We took a taxi-bus to Cockleshell beach; when we saw it, we turned around & went back to the ship. The beach was run-down & the buildings were just huts. We wouldn’t have eaten there or used the bathrooms. YUCK! It was the “best beach on the island”, according to our taxi driver! Don’t waste your time! San Juan was OK, we just walked around & used wi-fi at a coffee shop.

On the ship:

James was the Pool attendant for the Solarium & he did a fantastic job of removing people’s stuff that had been there longer than the 30 minute rule! We called him the Pool Police! He earned our WOW card!

The shops were missing a few fun items that I always buy: refrigerator magnets with a picture of the ship & some cosmetics that had been onboard in the past.

Overall:

We always enjoy getting away from snowy, cold winters! There were a few chilly days, but it was still better than home! We loved spending 8 days doing lots & lots of NOTHING!!! Too bad it had to come to an end! Less

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Cabin review: Independence of the Seas

Port and Shore Excursions

We took a 20 passenger 'taxi' to 'the best beach on the island' according to the driver. NOT! Beach was dumpy & the restaurant was disgusting! We paid the driver to take us back to the ship. Don't waste our time going to Cockleshell beach!!!